Urban Catholic Education The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

«Urban Catholic Education: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times is an engaging and encouraging text. It challenges some current assumptions about Catholic education by telling the real stories of inner city schools and placing them in their historical and present day context. These are stories of new vitality, determination, tenacity and innovation. In some cases, the stories are of schools redefined yet still and always focused on the essentials of extending the faith the next generation and preparing young people for productive lives.» (Karen Ristau)
«A tour de force, Urban Catholic Education: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times chronicles the story of the Catholic schools in the urban areas of ten archdioceses since 1960. Distinguished historians of Catholic education, professors and other Catholic educators document the similar challenges that Catholic schools in different parts of the country have encountered during the past half century of school closings and enrollment decline. The book is a must-read for bishops, superintendents and all interested in supporting Catholic schools, and a valuable addition to any library.» (John J. Convey, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Professor of Education, The Catholic University of America)
«With a keen eye for detail and a spot-on analysis of the many challenges facing Catholic schools today, this volume deftly chronicles recent trends in major U.S. cities concerning enrollment, financing, governance, and broad political and ecclesial developments currently shaping the American educational landscape. The authors and editors are honest and unsparing; hence, this is not always a happy book but it is a helpful one. Educational leaders, parents, policy makers, and all those concerned for the future of Catholic schooling would benefit from entering into the ebb and flow of the stories of faith found in these select cities.» (Rev. Ronald J. Nuzzi, Senior Director, The Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, Alliance for Catholic Education, The University of Notre Dame)

Thomas C. Hunt is a member of the faculty of the University of Dayton and a former editor of Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice. This is his 27th book.
David J. O’Brien is Professor of History and Catholic Studies Emeritus, College of the Holy Cross, and University Professor At Large, University of Dayton. He has written widely on U.S. Catholic history.
Timothy Walch is the author of Parish School: American Catholic Education from Colonial Times to the Present (2003). Andrew M. Greeley hailed Parish School as «the best summary review of the history of Catholic education in the last half century.»